Advice on KVM PS2/USB mixture?

[Zembower, Kevin]

I now have a rack of PowerEdge 2450s (2), 2850 (1) and 2950s (2). They
have a mixture of PS/2 and USB keyboard and mouse ports. Up to this
time, I haven't done anything fancy with serial terminals or DRAC ports.
I've just managed them with a PS/2 Keyboard-Video-Mouse (KVM) switch,
and manually plugging in the USB-only hosts. This has been acceptable
because often months go by before I need to use the console on these
hosts.

However, this is becoming unwieldy. I'd like to ask this group's advice
on how to manage my systems with respect to the local consoles. Does
anyone make a KVM that combines PS/2 and USB? I've found some by
searching, but they often seem like pure PS/2 or USB KVMs, with adapters
for the other interface. My only experience with these adapters was that
they required a Windows-only driver that I didn't want to use on my
Linux systems. Are these adapters easy to get working on Linux systems?

Should I bite the bullet and convert to serial terminals or DRAC ports?
I would have to purchase DRAC ports for my older servers. Is this cost
efficient compared to KVM?

Thank you in advance for any advice or suggestions you have for me.

-Kevin

Kevin Zembower
Internet Services Group manager
Center for Communication Programs
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins University
111 Market Place, Suite 310
Baltimore, Maryland  21202
410-659-6139